With extensive, step-by-step photographs and instructions, this jiu-jitsu guide is an effective tool for mastering this ancient martial art. Based on the author's study with instructors at the Tokyo police academy, this book presents all the traditional techniques of Jujitsu, also known as Jiu-jitsu.

Predecessor of Judo and precursor of today's ultimate fighting styles, Jujitsu is a martial art developed by the elite samurai class during Japan's feudal days. For centuries, this method of unarmed self-defense proved so successful in combat that it was kept secret and taught to a select few.

In this book, the author takes us on a tour of the Samurai code of Bushido. He talks of his encounters with the descendants of famous samurai' of the past. We are taken to ancient Japan to meet the most influential samurai through the memories of their descendants - as told to the author by members of those very samurai families!

To the Japanese, the sword is a spiritual weapon, possessed of a kind of divinity, a self reflective of the soul of its maker, owner, and user. Around its mystical powers has grown a centuries-old ritual and a fascinating, intricate discipline.

"The martial arts, if taught correctly, are limitless journeys with no final destination," writes martial arts master Darrell Craig. "They are a way of life." He begins that journey here with the basics: sitting, breathing, and the all-important bow, or rei.

In the martial arts, kata are the prearranged and choreographed dance-like forms used to convey the intricacies of a particular style to the practitioner. Kata is often called the mother of Karate. Bunkai is an analysis of a much neglected form of study within Karate.